Just in the nick of time, King County executive Dow Constantine and the Trust for Public Land have signed a conditional agreement to purchase the 216-acres owned by Erickson Logging, Inc. on Squak Mountain, saving the pristine forest from logging.

This news could not have come any sooner since the Washington State department of natural resources had approved the revised forest practices permit for Kurt Erickson late last week, giving him the green light to log 95 percent of the 95 acres he proposed to log in his second application.

The approval was troubling to members of the grass roots organization Save Squak, because the state DNR did not consider comments from the King County Department of Permitting and Environmental Review regarding flooding in the May Creek basin. According to Bruce McDonald with the DNR, harvesting timber is not considered to cause the creation of an impervious surface.

The May Creek drainage basin has been the subject of recent study and concern by King County due to drainage complaints and flooding of private property. Some argue that without the forest, the flooding would be worse.

“This welcome and well-timed agreement helps us save this valued forestland,” Constantine said. “Thanks to The Trust for Public Land we can now work to acquire the property at a fair price, and secure the funding to preserve this land in perpetuity.”

The Trust for Public Land’s initial agreement with Erickson calls for an independent appraisal and agreement on the final purchase price by June 21. During the appraisal process Erickson has agreed to postpone logging.

King County will work to secure the funding necessary to take ownership of the land in the long term.

Potential funding sources include Conservation Futures funds, and regional open space acquisition funds in the King County Parks levy, which is on the August ballot to replace the current levy that expires at the end of this year.

The plan calls for The Trust for Public Land to buy the property in February 2014, convey a portion of it to King County when the county has initial funds for a first phase of purchase, and hold the rest of the land until the county secures and the council approves all remaining funds to acquire it as part of the King County Parks system.

Erickson purchased the land in December 2012.

He said the timber on the entire parcel is worth about $2 million, and the land, if subdivided, would be worth about $75,000 per 5-acre parcel.

This has been a very emotionally charged issue because Squak Mountain is the link between Tiger and Cougar mountains, with a system of trails, not to mention a natural wildlife corridor.

King County wants to maintain the land’s recreational opportunities and preserve its forest habitat which supports a variety of wildlife and birds, including black bear, cougar and possibly an endangered bird species, the Marbled Murrelet.

Two weeks ago, members of the King County Conservation Futures Citizen’s Committee physically walked some of the land.

The committee recommends to the county executive which properties should receive funding from the conservation futures funds and parks levy in order to save the land from development or logging.